Blogs from Aegean, Turkey, Middle East

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Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Bodrum November 13th 2023

13 KASIM 2023 PAZARTESİ Sabah 4:00 te askerdik .. Otobüsümüz bizi, az bir süre sonra Colombo’ya bıraktı. Uçağımız 07:40 … Aslan THY ,rötarsız kalktı…üstelik bizi yolda iki kez besledi… 15:00 gibi İstanbul havaalanına indik… Valizlerimizi alırken, gurubun bir bölümü ile vedalaştık… Bir kısmı için İstanbul son durak … bize daha Bodrum’a kadar yol var … Bir tarafa oturduk, kahvelerimizi yudumlarken seyahati düşündüm.. Temelde farkına varmadan, bayağı maceralı bir yolculuk olmuş… Valizini,telefonunu ve de hatta pasaportunu bile otelde unutanlar… Satın aldıkları heykeller ile Hindistan gümrüğünde vedalaşanlar, Alış veriş zamanları dışında ilke olarak mutlaka tekerlekli sandalyelerle dolaşanlar …24kısım tekmili birden yaşandı… Son değerlendirmede Hindistan’a bir... read more
ISTANBUL HAVAALANI

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean October 15th 2023

We had low expectations for Bodrum, especially after our fabulous evening the night before. However, Bodrum has an ancient castle, started in 1402 by the Knights of St. John. We took a cab ride around the harbor to see what the old castle might have to offer. What an interesting place! The church in the center was the first item erected and everything else around it was built in stages over many decades. It boasts four towers, but we counted five, each built by a different nationality. The Italians, Germans, French, Spanish and English all contributed their different architecture to structure which makes is architecturally unique and special. There are marble plaques over doors in all the sections within the castle, each displaying the coat of arms of that section’s benefactor and patrons. It truly is ... read more
White castle peacock
Modern Bodrum harbor
Coats of arms

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Ephesus October 14th 2023

We had to be off the ship early this morning to meet our guide Emret. So we enjoyed an early breakfast on the ship then, as soon as they opened the gate to let us off, we were on our way to another amazing day in Turkey. Emret and the driver were caught in the traffic of hoards of busses coming into the harbor area for the gazillions of tourists from the other huge cruise ships. Even though we started out a tad late we made it to Efes before most of the huge crowds. Efes (Ephesus) was one of the seven churches of Asia Minor mentioned in the Bible. It is important to know that Efes was the largest city in its day, with over 250,000 inhabitants calling it home. It featured some of the ... read more
Ornate step decor in minor theater
The minor theater
Columns along Domitian Street

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Pamukkale October 9th 2023

Setting off early with our driver and guide we learned a bit more about modern Izmir and the history of our destinations. After a 2.5 hr card ride, we started at Aphrodisias. This city, previously unknown to us, was once home to over 100,000 people. Amazing remains exist that demonstrate daily life in the ancient world. This city was contemporary with Hierapolis which was about the same size but much more famous for its hot springs, said to have healing powers. The friezes decorate the entire city and were depictions of actual citizens of note, some were historical figures and some were mythical. The emperor Diocletian, concerned for the welfare of all his citizens, issued an edict of maximum prices. The prices were “posted” carved in marble on the walls of the market square, for all ... read more
Agora - Aphrodisias
Aphrodisias
Amphitheater Aphrodisias

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Izmir » Konak October 8th 2023

A lovely breakfast at the Swisshotel Buyek Efes fueled us for a marathon day of exploration on foot in Izmir. Our hotel is literally around the corner from the second apartment we lived in when here. We easily found it as it is one building in from Attaturk Circle, a monument park honoring Mustafa Attaturk. He is recognized for bringing Turkey into the modern world. He saw a vision for Turkey that continued past his death and persists today. We continued with a lovely stroll down the Cordon, the waterfront walk bordering the Bay of Izmir on the Aegean Sea. Our first apartment was half-way down the Cordon, and with a little memory jogging, we finally found it. We lived on the 7th floor of this building and spent hours watching city life from our balcony. ... read more
Izmir waterfront
Cordon park
Our first apartment

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean September 24th 2023

We had an early start today being picked up at 6:45 for our all day tour to the Gallipoli Peninsula. It was a long (and fast) drive to Ecebat where we stopped for lunch at 11:30am. We had covered 300kms in that time including a couple of 30 minute stops. After lunch we hopped on the minivan and our guide started telling the story of the Gallipoli Campaign. The goal of the campaign was to gain access to the Black Sea to support Russia against the Austrian Hungarian Empire (Germany) during WWI. To do this the allies needed access to the Dardanelles, a body of water down one side of the Gallipoli Peninsula which effectively linked the Mediterranean all the way through to the Black Sea. The offensive which landed on April 25th was the second ... read more
Anzac Cove Beach
Memorial
Ari Burnu Cemetary

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Marmaris May 16th 2023

It was getting closer to the time when our contract in the marina was coming to an end and we were crossing off many things on “our to do list” and feeling pretty good about it. Bob even felt that it was going well enough that he decided to add a couple of new things to the list. Last year when we were on the boat, we knew the fan over the bed was starting to go and was getting quite noisy. Bob figured he’d take the time to see if he could fix it. He worked on it for a while, but then realized it wasn’t going to get any better. We had looked for a replacement when in the US and didn’t find one the exact same size to be mounted the same, so ... read more
Just a "little" disruption to "fix" the fan!
Definitely Not a Place to Sit in the Cockpit Now
Enjoy the Flowers  Everywhere You Look

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Marmaris May 5th 2023

It was time to start our long journey back to Tsamaya. Our first leg was getting a ride to the Albany airport from our friend Lisa who picked us up at 8AM. Next was catching the shuttle bus to JFK which we have used before. It leaves Albany at 9:30 and arrived at the terminal for Turkish Airlines about 2PM. From previous experience we knew that the Turkish Airline counter would not open until 3:30 PM as the flight doesn’t leave until 7:30 PM. Surprisingly that time actually goes by quite quickly. We got in line at Turkish Airline, checked our baggage which included one of our carry on bags as we have the luxury even as economy ticket holders of being allowed 2 suitcases each. This way we only then had to deal with our ... read more
Waiting for Turkish Airlines To Open
Lots of Planes Ahead of Us for Take Off
The Top Tells You the Flight is 9 1/2 hours Long

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Bodrum May 1st 2023

G01 1 MAYIS 2023 PAZARTESİ Yine yeni yeniden yollardayız…özlemişim bu tür uzun boylu seyahatleri…Sabah 7:00’ye kurduk saati… Bir kahve molası ve valizler dün geceden beri hazır olduğundan, saat 07:30 da taksimiz bizi ,evden 4 dakika mesafede olan Yeni Bodrum limanına bıraktı… Çıkarken yine sıkıntılar yaşadık … Söylemesi ayıp bendenizin “Yunanistan oturma” iznim var .. Fakat sevgili Yunanlı kardeşlerim bu oturma iznini geçen yıl Ekimde yenilemeleri gerekirken, nedense bir türlü yenileme başarısını gösteremiyorlar … Bu yüzden ,tüm vergileri ve harçları yatırılmış ve avukatım sevgili Voulgaris tarafından yakından izlenen “proses” nasılsa yerine getirilemiyor … Bu nedenle, Türk yetkililer, Yunanca yazılmış ve iznimi yenisini verene kadar yenilediklerini belirten belgeye egzotik bir meyve diye bakıyorlar eviriyorlar çe... read more
DEVAMLI YERİMİZ
ASIM KAPTAN GÜVERTE

Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Marmaris January 6th 2023

October 17 – 26, 2022 Now that our land travel was over for now in Turkey, we knew we had to buckle down and get ready to head back to the US for the winter and leave Tsamaya safely in the marina. With our flights booked for Oct 26th and returning to the marina late on the 16th, we had to start moving to get things sorted and determine what goes and what stays, clean out the refrigerator and freezer, and meet with the person that will be watching the boat while we are gone. Other things on our “to do list” were putting biocide in the diesel tank, doing an oil change, fill up the diesel tank, tie down the genoa and staysail and put sheets below (ropes for those that don’t know that term), ... read more
Gee, Everyone Looks For the Next Size Boat Don't They?
Enjoying A Simple Turkish Breakfast in Town
We Always Enjoy Tea and/or Fresh Squeezed Juice




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